FROM THE GEOCHEMISTRY OF CORAL REEF FISH OTOLITHS TO CLIMATE: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE EXAMPLE OF TAIARO LAGOON?

The analysis of the C-O stable isotope composition of coral reef fish otoliths from Taiaro, a French Polynesian atoll normally isolated from the Pacific Ocean, has been performed to address two main questions. The first is to confirm previous results which suggest that a lagoonal coral reef fish population is able to achieve its ontogenetic cycle without any open ocean phase. If so, are O isotopic values of otoliths an indicator of temperature fluctuations in the tropical Pacific Ocean related to climate change and in particular temperature variations of water masses? delta O-18 and delta C-13 values on both lagoon and open ocean fish otoliths caught in 2006 indicated clearly that O-isotopes reached the isotopic equilibrium; in contrast, all delta C-13 values exhibited a strong isotopic disequilibrium related to metabolic activity. Stable isotope compositions revealed a clear differentiation between fish from lagoons and those from the open ocean (with a delta O-18 enrichment of 1 % in favour of the lagoon). This confirmed a lack of connectivity between habitats and that fish from lagoon lived their entire life cycle in the lagoon. Both delta O-18 and delta C-13 data indicated differences between nucleus and edge signatures with changes in fish behavior from the larval life to adulthood (habitat, diet, etc.), and a clear adaptation of dietary behavior of lagoon fish. The comparison of the 2006 data set with those of 1994 showed that environmental conditions were stable in the lagoon, leading to a very narrow range of variations in the delta O-18 values. delta O-18 of fish otoliths of the open ocean exhibited a wider variation (+0.25 %) between 1994 and 2006, suggesting a decrease in temperature linked to a change of SST, which can be interpreted in terms of climate change associated with El Nino Southern Oscilation (ENSO). These differences could also be due to a switch of habitats during the life cycle of fish from the open ocean.